


Naruto's Holly Jolly S-Rank Mission!

by hkandi



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Christmas Cookies, Complete, Eat holiday snacks while reading, Festive activities, Gen, Hatake Kakashi is a Troll, Holidays, Iruka will be tired, Iruka won't say no to Naruto, Listen to holiday music too!, Lots of training..., M/M, Mission Fic, More as the story goes on!, Naruto is Just Naruto, Naruto means well, Not the Santa story you probably thought you'd get..., Team 7 is dragged along, Winter Solstice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:35:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 17,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27748369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hkandi/pseuds/hkandi
Summary: "Are you inviting me to spend the holidays with you and Naruto?" Kakashi asked, surprised."No!" Iruka shouted. "I'm demanding you accept responsibility for telling Naruto that Santa Claus is a missing nin who wears a red uniform and is going to infiltrate the village one night! Now Naruto has all these plans on how we should protect my apartment, as well as the whole village, and how to use these new holiday customs that are coming into the village to trap Santa!"Kakashi blinked at him.A winter holiday themed story, told in real time. Dates as chapter titles.
Relationships: Dai-nana-han | Team 7 & Hatake Kakashi, Dai-nana-han | Team 7 & Umino Iruka, Haruno Sakura & Uchiha Sasuke & Uzumaki Naruto, Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka, Umino Iruka & Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 124
Kudos: 227





	1. November 27th

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Holidays!

(I don't own any characters etc etc)

Iruka smiled and waved as the last student left, then sighed and rolled his shoulders.

"I know you're there," he said as he began to clean his blackboard.

"Afternoon, sensei," a voice drawled as its owner gracefully climbed through a window. "You take all the fun out of spying sometimes."

Iruka paused and rolled his eyes. "It's not spying if my classroom wards detected you. And I asked you to come here," he said, shaking his head as he resumed cleaning.

He turned around a moment later to find the copy nin leaning against the door, arms crossed.

"Would you like to have a seat?" Iruka asked, and the other man shook his head. 

"Fine," Iruka sighed, sitting in his own chair. "I'll get right to it then. Naruto told me about the...fireside stories...exchanged during Team Seven's last mission."

Kakashi stared at him blankly, and Iruka continued.

"I can't say I approve of them, Kakashi-sensei."

Kakashi shrugged. "It was all in good fun, sensei."

"All in good fun?" Iruka asked, raising his voice. "You've gotten him all worked up about it!"

"Maa, about what?"

Iruka blinked at him several times. "Seriously?"

"Seriously."

Iruka shook his head. "You know exactly what I'm talking about. Now, thanks to you, I've got all these extra....plans...with Naruto, for the next month! And you," he said, pointing at the copy nin, "you're helping with everything!"

"Are you inviting me to spend the holidays with you and Naruto?" Kakashi asked, surprised.

"No!" Iruka shouted. "I'm demanding you accept responsibility for telling Naruto that Santa Claus is a missing nin who wears a red uniform and is going to infiltrate the village one night! Now Naruto has all these plans on how we should protect my apartment, as well as the whole village, and how to use these new holiday customs that are coming into the village to trap Santa!"

Kakashi blinked at him. "You're not actually serious?"

"I am, and so is he."

"But, it was just a joke," Kakashi pointed out. "Sakura didn't take it seriously, nor did Sasuke."

Iruka pinched the bridge of his nose. "Sakura is smarter than that. So is Sasuke, though I expect Naruto will rope him into all this. Probably her as well..."

Kakashi chuckled, and Iruka glared at him.

"I'm glad you're finding this so amusing, Kakashi-sensei."

"I am, sensei, oh, I am."

Iruka shook his head and stood up. "Well, you can't say I didn't warn you. Thanks to all this I'm spending any free time this weekend with Naruto planning on which of the winter holiday events and customs we should pursue, and how to monitor and trap the 'missing nin'."

"Well, he's putting his knowledge to the test," Kakashi pointed out.

"He's just a child!" Iruka shouted. "Let him enjoy winter and its holidays! If he wants to pretend Santa is real, and not a missing nin or enemy, let him!"

Kakashi stood straight, away from the wall, and studied Iruka with a measured gaze. "He is no longer just a child, sensei," the copy nin said in a stern tone. "He is now my soldier, and he will be treated as such."

They stared at each other in silence for a moment.

"Let him be your soldier after the new year," Iruka said. "For this holiday season, he can be a child. You can argue with me about it next year. We'll be in touch about our plans."

Kakashi studied him in silence for a moment again before leaving in a swirl of leaves, and Iruka exhaled.

"Stupid jonin telling scary stories," he muttered to himself. "As if!"


	2. December 1st

(I don't own any characters etc etc)

The alarm rang early, earlier than Iruka was used to getting up for, and he blindly swung out to hit at it and silence it. He sighed, and opened his eyes to stare at the ceiling, wondering just what in the world he was doing waking up so early?

"Perhaps I should talk to him about doing this in the evenings," Iruka sighed. "Though, I have grading to do then..."

He frowned and rubbed his face before he got up and changed, putting on training gear. He pursed his lips and then packed up everything he needed for the rest of the day into a scroll, tucking it into a secure inner pocket.

Finishing off a small breakfast, Iruka left his apartment, putting his wards up, and headed down to the street, where he saw Naruto waiting for him, jumping up and down to stay warm in the chilly almost-winter air.

Iruka couldn't help but smile at the blond's actions, and the awareness that Naruto had been on time, if not early, this morning.

Naruto turned and saw him, grinning widely. This, Iruka thought to himself, this made it all worth it. Surely he could do this for the next month, if it made Naruto so happy?

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto shouted, and Iruka motioned for him to be a bit quieter, as it was quite early. "You made it!" he said, throwing his arms around Iruka's middle to hug him.

Iruka smiled and squeezed him. "Of course I did! How could I say no to your idea? Let's head to a less residential place and we'll go through warm ups."

Naruto nodded and they headed off at a brisk pace, soon finding a park nearby and beginning to stretch.

"So," Iruka began. "What did you have in mind?"

"Well," Naruto said. "If we want to be on our guard for Santa, we need to be in good shape." Iruka nodded solemnly, and he continued. "So, we should get in extra training, probably daily, or almost daily."

"True," Iruka said. "Our bodies could probably due with a rest day here and there."

"Yeah!" Naruto agreed. "But, we should focus on running, jumping, and sparring. Um...I'll probably get in more of my sparring with Sakura and Sasuke, so me and you should probably do more of the running, and maybe the jumping. You could spar with other people on your own time?"

Iruka nodded. "Sure."

However, he was unprepared for what Naruto said next.

"You could spar with Kakashi-sensei!"

"What?" Iruka asked, surprised. Spar with the copy nin? That wasn't exactly what he had in mind when he told the man he was expected to help. Iruka internally sighed and cursed himself for pulling the other man into all this.

Then again, if he was waking up early to run in the cold, why shouldn't the man who was responsible for all this have to also?

"Yeah, he said that you talked to him about all this?" Naruto said. "Should we start running now?"

"Sure, Naruto," Iruka said, semi-distractedly, and they set off at a decent pace. "What did Kakashi-sensei say?"

"Not much," Naruto said. "Just that you said he was helping."

"Well, that's true," Iruka commented. "So, shouldn't he be out here too?"

"I don't think Kakashi-sensei gets up this early," Naruto said, shrugging as they ran. "You know he's always late to meeting us to train, and we're his team!"

They discussed this as they ran throughout the village, and Iruka knew, judging from the time they had met and the route they were taking, this was not going to be a short run.

He liked to think he was in shape, but this month would definitely challenge him.

"Well, I'm just not sure how we'll get him to train with us," Iruka said after much debate, shaking his head. 

Suddenly, he had an idea.

"Gai-sensei!" Iruka shouted, as the man was running towards them. Iruka waved, and he and Naruto both flinched at the blinding light from the other man's smile directed at them.

"Iruka-sensei!" Gai boomed, seemingly not caring that only merchants and store owners were up so early. "And Naruto! How wonderful to see you out on an energetic run this beautiful morning!"

"Uh, yeah," Naruto said, running in place as they paused to talk. "Back at you."

Iruka sighed. "Say, can you help us? Kakashi-sensei is helping us with a...project. And we think he should be joining us on our extra training. Maybe you could have a word with him?" He looked at Naruto. "Even if we met in the evening sometimes rather than the mornings?"

Naruto nodded, and they both looked at Gai with pleading expressions.

"But of course!" Gai shouted. "I will talk to my rival and express the importance of this most youthful enterprise! He will surely join you within a day!"

"Thanks!" Iruka and Naruto said in unison.

"We should get going," Naruto added, pulling on Iruka's sleeve. They waved to the other man and set off again.

"Do you really think that will help?" Naruto said when they had put some distance between themselves and Gai.

Iruka shrugged. "It can't hurt?"

_____

That evening, Iruka found himself regretting his words.

For one, he hurt. Yes, he was in shape, but he wasn't used to long runs, especially long runs in the morning. In the cold.

Even taking a lengthy hot shower at the academy hadn't seemed to help much, though since he had packed everything before he left his apartment, Iruka wasn't short on time. So, that was one silver lining for the month.

He was also regretting his words because he now had a rather displeased copy nin glaring at him from across the room at the missions office. Iruka wasn't even sure how that could be accomplished with only one eye visible!

"Ru, what happened?" Kotetsu asked, once the room had near emptied.

"What are you talking about?" Iruka asked, playing dumb.

"You're...wincing? Like, every time you get up or sit down. Ooh, did you --"

"No!" Iruka hissed. "Not what you think, don't even go there!"

"Yeah!" Izumo added. "You know our boy is stone cold single and hasn't had a fling since the Mizuki thing." The other two glared at him. "What?"

"Way to put it like that," Iruka sighed. "I'm just sore and tired. Naruto wants me to go on morning runs with him this month for extra training, and this was our first one."

"Oof, better you than me," Kotetsu said. 

"Agreed," Izumo added. "How often does he want to go?"

"Practically daily," Iruka groaned.

"Well, hey, you'll be in extra good shape for the shinobi mixer later this month!" Kotetsu commented. "It's the perfect time to mingle and meet someone! We just need to get you an extra tight uniform to show off your new, tight bod."

Iruka laughed. "Keep dreaming."

"Nah, Ko's right," Izumo laughed. "And it's supposed to be bigger and better this year with all the new holiday stuff being brought to Konoha."

"Hey," Kotetsu interrupted. "Also, why is Hatake staring at you?"

They glanced over to look, and to their horror, Kakashi stood and began to walk towards Iruka's desk.

"Maybe he's jealous of Naruto asking me to train?" Iruka joked, but his friends shrugged and headed back to their desks, clearly trying to avoid any wrath from the copy nin.

"Good evening, Kakashi-sensei," Iruka sighed as the man stood at the front of his desk. "How may I help you tonight?"

"I spoke to Gai."

"That's nice," Iruka said, blandly. 

"Apparently, he saw you and Naruto out on a run this morning." No response from Iruka. "He said the two of you want me to start joining you for them?" Again, no response. "Gai thought it was most...endearing."

Iruka crossed his arms and sat back in his chair. "Naruto decided it's part of our preparations for what you and I discussed a few days ago. I told you, I expect you to take responsibility. And from what Naruto said, it didn't sound like you were fully objecting to helping us."

They looked at each other in silence for a moment.

Suddenly, Kakashi's visible eye curved into an upside down smile.

"If that's what you'd like, sensei, then who am I to say no?"

"What?" Iruka asked, sitting straighter. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, I'll join you for training. I think it was suggested in the evenings, no? So, you join Naruto for a run in the mornings, and I'll train you in the evenings. Naruto will be free to join us or not. Though, since we don't have much time, I think we'll probably be up late."

"You can't be serious!" Iruka hissed.

"I am, sensei," Kakashi drawled. "It's a great idea, really. Naruto gets extra training in the mornings, and you get to make sure I do my part in the evenings. Then, Naruto can rest at night, and I can still sleep in a bit in the mornings before meeting my team."

"And when am I supposed to grade, or rest, or sleep?" Iruka countered.

"That's not my problem," Kakashi said, shrugging. "After all, I'm just doing my part, as you asked."

And with that, he gave a lazy salute, and vanished in a swirl of leaves.

"What was that all about?" Izumo asked.

Iruka sighed. "I think I'm about to be in even better shape than we thought. And I should go to the doctor for some healing ointments, in advance. It's going to be a long month..."


	3. December 4th

(I don't own any characters etc etc)

"I was thinking," Naruto said during their morning run, "that we could invite Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei to tonight?"

"Sure," Iruka said. "If you'd like. Not Sakura?" he teased, and Naruto pushed him slightly, laughing.

"Unfortunately, no. She's going away with her family this weekend. But it could be fun for them to hang out with us for our research?"

"That's very considerate of you," Iruka said, smiling, as they turned down a new street. "I'll see you at the academy later, then. Oh, so that means that tomorrow is a rest day for us?" he asked, hopeful. This was their fourth straight day of morning training, and he had already had two "evening sessions" with Kakashi.

"Believe it!" Naruto agreed, and Iruka exhaled for the first time all week.

_____

Iruka groaned as he put on healing balm in the academy staff's shower area, gingerly putting his uniform on soon after.

He thought about the past few days. The runs with Naruto were...decent. Or, they would be, if he didn't have the extra sessions on top of them with Kakashi. 

Or, not Kakashi. Not the Kakashi he had expected, at least. No lazy, running late, full of excuses, maybe reading and distracted Kakashi.

No, instead, the copy nin had sent word to Iruka of a time and place that would be "ours" from then on, and surprisingly, had been on time since.

Kakashi had set a ruthless pace for their first run together, and last night kept Iruka out for three hours to spar.

"I might not survive this month," he sighed to himself, before gathering his things and heading to his classroom.

___

The day passed quickly, it being a Friday, and Iruka had just finished cleaning things up before Naruto barged into the room.

"Iruka-sensei! Are you ready?!"

Iruka laughed. "Hello to you too. And yes, just about ready. Do you have your list?"

"I think so," Naruto said, scratching the back of his head as he pulled out a crumpled up piece of paper. "Movies, ramen, snacks."

Iruka paused as he considered it, and shrugged. "Sounds about right, I guess. Are the others joining us?"

"Yep!" Naruto said, putting his hands in the straps of his pack and bouncing on his feet. "Sasuke wasn't going to but Kakashi-sensei said he would and told Sasuke that he should stop being so alone and 'get out and live a little.'"

Iruka laughed. "I'm not sure that coming over to my apartment to watch holiday movies is exactly living on the edge, but if it gets Sasuke out for the night, who am I to complain? That was nice of Kakashi-sensei to talk him into it," he admitted.

"I know! Kakashi-sensei is probably as boring as Sasuke," Naruto said as Iruka grabbed his bag and they began to head out of the academy.

"Naruto, don't call your jonin-sensei boring," Iruka admonished him. "I'm sure he has an active life." Including kicking my butt in the evenings, Iruka sighed to himself.

"Well, they're both boring, but at least tonight they're with us! I told them to go home and pack their bags and to come over to your place in an hour. Kakashi-sensei even gave me money for dinner for everyone!"

"Wait, they're both staying the night?" Iruka asked, surprised, stopping in his tracks.

Naruto, however, continued walking. "Yeah, I mean, we're watching a bunch of movies, and staying up late, why shouldn't they?"

Iruka rubbed his face as he hurried to catch up. "I just didn't think they'd want to..."

They first stopped at Ichiraku's to place their order, then headed to a video store to pick up some movies.

"This, this, and this," Naruto said, grabbing videos. "And...this one!"

Iruka laughed. "Will we have time to get through all these?" 

"Tonight, and tomorrow, if we need to," Naruto said in a serious tone as they headed to the front desk.

"These just came in!" the store clerk proudly told them. "All new ones, imported for the new holidays! Good thing you're getting these now, as they'll be in high demand in another week or so!"

They thanked the clerk and stopped to get some snacks before picking up dinner and finally making their way to Iruka's apartment.

"I'm glad to be inside," Iruka sighed as they toed off their shoes. "It's December alright, it's getting colder and colder!"

"Especially at night," Naruto agreed.

"Do you have enough winter clothes and gear?" Iruka asked as they unpacked their purchases.

"I think so," the blond said. "I have to pull them out of my closet and check. What about you?"

Iruka smiled and ruffled his hair. "That's very kind of you to ask. I should be good, I might pick up an extra pair of gloves though, you know how they disappear over the winter."

Just then, the doorbell rang and Naruto ran to open it. Iruka followed, and greeted their guests, glad that he generally kept his place tidy just in case.

"Hello!" Iruka called out.

"Hello, Iruka-sensei," Sasuke greeted him, before Naruto showed him where to put his things.

"Sensei," Kakashi drawled, as he took off his shoes as well. "So this is your home."

Iruka gave a half-smile and nervously looked around. "It's not much, but it's mine. Thank you for dinner, by the way, Naruto told me you gave him money for it. It was very generous, and I can repay you if you'd like."

To his surprise, Kakashi waved it away. "No need, sensei. Consider it my contribution to everything. Plus, we need to keep you properly fueled for all our training, eh?"

Iruka groaned and led the other man to the kitchen, the boys having disappeared into the spare bedroom Naruto used when he slept over.

"I appreciate you taking this seriously, Kakashi-sensei," Iruka said. "I'm surprised, and in pain, but appreciative."

"Maa, it's the least I could do, since you made it my business," Kakashi said, and Iruka studied him, unsure if he was joking or not.

"Look," Iruka said, sighing. "I'm both sorry and not sorry I dragged you into all this. It's getting to be bigger than I thought it would be, first the extra training, and now taking up your Friday night. I still blame all this on you, but I recognize I'm making the decision to do all this with, for, Naruto. So if you don't want to keep up with it, no hard feelings."

It was Kakashi's turn to study the other man. "Sensei, I do what I want. Rest assured you're not forcing anything on me. If this is partly my mess, I'll help to clean it up. After all, it's part of Naruto's training, for better or worse. And I could think of worse ways to spend my Friday night."

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?" Iruka asked, and Kakashi shrugged as the boys entered the kitchen.

"Let's eat!" Naruto shouted, grabbing the bag of takeout and ushering everyone to the living room.

_____

"See? Santa is 'holly jolly'," Sasuke told Naruto. "Not 'manipulative.'"

"He's definitely up to no good," Naruto said, making a face at Sasuke. "He spends all year making plans for one night? And to visit everyone? That's a criminal mastermind, duh!"

The boys continued to debate throughout the movies, as well as make notes. Or rather, Naruto took down notes, and Sasuke read over his shoulder and offered critiques.

Iruka and Kakashi sat on the sofa, behind the kids, who were sitting and laying on the floor as they watched movie after movie.

They had long since eaten their ramen and were working on their second servings of popcorn, one bowl for the kids and one for the adults.

Iruka couldn't help but steal glances at Kakashi, as popcorn definitely vanished from the copy nin's hand, but the mask stayed on.

"Something on your mind?" Kakashi whispered as they watched, and Iruka jumped, as Kakashi had leaned in to speak.

"No!" Iruka squeaked. "Just...no."

He kept his eyes on the television, Kakashi's gaze burning into him, making him squirm.

Not long after, the credits rolled, and Iruka clapped his hands. 

"Okay, that's three movies, I think it's time to call it a night," he said, and the boys nodded, yawning themselves.

Sasuke followed Naruto down the hall to sleep in the second bedroom, and Iruka turned to Kakashi.

"Umm...I don't know if you wanted to crash here or not, it's kind of late," Iruka said, nervously. "I mean, you're welcome to, if you'd like. Naruto's insisting on pancakes in the morning and watching the last movie, to round out his research," he said, laughing.

Kakashi looked around and shrugged. "Sure, I'll sleep out here. Your sofa is quite comfortable."

"Are you sure? I could give you the bed, you're a guest, after all."

"No need, just a blanket would be fine," Kakashi said, and Iruka nodded and left to retrieve one.

When he returned, he saw that Kakashi had removed his leg bindings and vest, and Iruka inwardly laughed that the man had kept it on in the first place.

"Anything else I can get you?" Iruka asked as he passed the blanket. 

"Did you want to tuck me in?" Kakashi asked, and Iruka blushed slightly and looked away. "No?"

"Another time, perhaps," Iruka said, looking at him again and rolling his eyes. "You know, Naruto cancelled his training with me for tomorrow. We're taking a rest day."

"I see," Kakashi said, putting the blanket on the sofa and sticking his hands in his pockets. "I suppose you'd like us to take the day off too?"

"It would be nice," Iruka admitted. "I'm feeling a bit sore these days."

"Turn around," Kakashi said.

"What?"

"Turn around."

Iruka did as told and, to his surprise, felt the other man suddenly kneading his shoulders, in a manner that was just harsh enough to work the knots.

"Oh, that's good," Iruka sighed.

"Good," Kakashi said, ending a moment later. Iruka rolled his shoulders and hummed happily. "That should help for tomorrow evening then."

"We're still training?" Iruka near shouted, spinning to look at him. "But, it's a Saturday night!"

"Do you have plans?" Kakashi asked, and Iruka pouted but shook his head. "Well, now you do. Same place as usual. Or, perhaps even earlier. I'll let you know in the morning. Goodnight, Iruka."

Iruka exhaled loudly. "Goodnight, Kakashi," he said, unconsciously mimicking the other man dropping the formalities.

He only realized it when he was in bed himself a short time later.

"What have I done?!" he groaned to himself. "I'm getting cozy with my tormentor! And I finally have Saturday night plans with someone who's not a friend, and all I'm going to do is freeze my butt off outside and train until I drop dead. Great...."


	4. December 9th

(I don't own any characters etc etc)

Iruka was near exhausted these days due to wrapping up classes before winter break, training with Naruto and Kakashi, and his regular missions office shifts.

Naruto, unsurprisingly, was still pursuing all of his plans to monitor and protect against the "holly, jolly bearded enemy nin." And Kakashi, surprisingly, was still training with Iruka. Every. Single. Day.

"Just one rest day?" Iruka pleaded when the copy nin had dropped by his classroom after hours one day. Semi-threatening the man hadn't worked, so he thought he'd try asking nicely. "One, just one!"

He was met with a reminder they had already taken one night off to watch movies with the kids, followed by a very firm no, so Iruka had taken matters into his own hands and took some time off from training with Naruto.

The blond agreed, stating that they could move onto other aspects of their mission instead - beginning to identify and obtain distractions and traps for their target.

And so, Iruka spent Wednesday morning in bed, sleeping late, before preparing to meet Naruto for an even later lunch and going tree shopping. The academy was offering teachers a flex day off "in the spirit of the season," so Iruka had chosen to use it today, as Naruto reported his team also expected to have the day off.

"That was not nearly enough sleep," Iruka sighed as he zipped up his vest on his way out the door. He yawned extra wide and rubbed his face, before shaking his head and putting on a smile, seeing Naruto just up ahead.

"Iruka-sensei!" 

"Hello, Naruto. How are you?" Iruka asked, as they set off for ramen.

Naruto launched into a long tirade about training with his team yesterday and all of the new plans he had come up with since he last saw Iruka two days ago.

"It sounds like you've been busy," Iruka said, as they sat to eat.

"Believe it! Sakura suggested I look at some books the library just got in, so I spent all morning there!"

Iruka laughed. "You went to the library on your own? That's amazing!"

"Sheesh, sensei," Naruto huffed. "It's a big deal, you know? I need to give it my all!"

Iruka smiled. "Well, good work. So, what's the plan for today?"

Naruto pulled out a notebook as they ordered and reviewed what they would need, moreso for Iruka's apartment as it had been decided that would be their home base for the main event.

They had soon finished eating and went to buy some general ornaments, as well as supplies to make their own garlands for the tree and additional ornaments.

"Okay," Iruka said, as he sealed the items into a scroll for easier transport. "What now?"

"The tree!" Naruto shouted. "Kakashi-sensei will be meeting us there soon!"

"What? He's coming too?"

"Well, yeah," Naruto said. "He's part of this, and Gai-sensei said he lost a challenge and had to do this as a consequence."

"Ah," Iruka mused. "That makes more sense."

They walked around the village a bit more before grabbing seats at a bench across from a store with a large assortment of Christmas trees outside, and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

One cup of hot chocolate later, Kakashi finally arrived.

"Yo."

"You're late!" Naruto sighed.

"I was tired," Kakashi said. "All these extra training sessions with Iruka-sensei have exhausted me."

"You're tired?!" Iruka hissed through clenched teeth. "I'm exhausted! But, this is probably a sign we should take time off..."

"Maa, I wouldn't dream of it. And I did go easy on you with only training for four hours yesterday, and not very late in the evening for once."

"Thanks," Iruka said, sarcastically.

Unfortunately, Kakashi didn't seem to pay it any mind. "And we can't risk slacking off and disappointing Naruto," he said, giving Iruka an upside down eye smile. "So, we'll keep it up."

"This is supposed to be a fun time of year, not all this," Iruka sighed. "Anyway, let's get a tree, hmm?"

They headed into the tree lot and followed Naruto as he looked at each and every one, finding reasons that trees didn't work.

"Too small. Too tall. Too wide. Too many branches. Not enough branches. It's tilting. It smells weird. It's not the right shade of green."

This went on through that tree lot, and into the next two.

"Why does Konoha have so many of these places?" Kakashi sighed as they headed to another lot.

"The village is fully embracing all this," Iruka said, puffing out his cheeks. "Unfortunately."

Kakashi suddenly stopped, making the others pause as well.

"Say, Naruto, I have a plan. Why don't you two stay here, and I'll go get our tree?"

"No!" Naruto said, firmly. "It has to be perfect, and you'll be lazy and get us an ugly tree!"

"I've watched you go through a hundred trees, if not more," Kakashi pointed out. "I think I know what you're looking for. Just trust me, okay?"

Iruka and Naruto exchanged looks and shrugged, and Kakashi leapt to the roofs and away.

"Do you think he'll come back?" Naruto asked Iruka, as they found a new bench to sit at nearby.

Iruka shrugged. "Honestly? I'm not sure..."

_____

About fifteen minutes later, Kakashi appeared in front of them with a tree bound up by thin ropes.

"How's this?" he asked, presenting it.

Naruto stood and circled it. "It's a good shade of green, and a good height. Will it fluff out when we untie it?"

"Probably," Kakashi said, shrugging.

"Where did it come from?" Iruka asked.

"I know someone who...knows trees," Kakashi said. "I asked him for a favor, and he made us this."

"You mean gave it to you," Naruto laughed, and Kakashi shrugged again.

"Sure, whatever. Do you like it?" he asked, and the blond nodded.

"Great, it's yours. I'm going home," Kakashi said, passing Iruka the tree.

"What?" the others said in unison.

"What?" Kakashi parroted.

"You have to help get it to Iruka-sensei's place!" Naruto yelled at him, and Kakashi looked at them blandly. "To decorate? Hello?"

Kakashi shook his head. "No way. I'm not helping get it there and then sitting through decorating it. You'll probably want to do it like in the movies we watched and drink hot chocolate and listen to holiday music, right? Count me out."

"But we got the large marshmallows for tonight," Iruka countered, laughing. "Fine, fine. If he wants to leave, it means more fun for us, Naruto."

The blond looked between the two shinobi before shrugging. "Let's go!" 

They said goodbye to Kakashi and the copy nin watched them walk a short distance away, before Iruka said something to Naruto, who reached to pick up part of the tree to help carry it.

Something in Kakashi's chest tightened at the endearing sight in front of him, and he had to admit, it was like something out of the holiday movies they had watched.

Sighing, he jutsued away, and was leaning against Iruka's door when they arrived a short time later.

"Did you have a change of heart?" Iruka asked, smiling, and Kakashi shrugged.

"I need to make sure Naruto doesn't cover it in hideous ornaments," Kakashi said as they entered the apartment. "Or Santa might run away, screaming."

"Which wouldn't be bad," Naruto suggested, clearly thinking about it.

"Naruto, no," Kakashi said, as he held the tree and Iruka began to set up the stand for it, having already cleared space in the living room. "Plus, the sooner it's done, the sooner we can go train," he said, looking down at Iruka, who glanced up and frowned.

"Oh good," Iruka sighed. "Maybe I should make you sleepy time tea instead of hot chocolate, see if I can get you to bed early so I can have the night off."

"Sensei, if you're trying to get me into bed, you just have to ask," Kakashi quietly purred as Naruto went into the kitchen.

Iruka cleared his throat awkwardly. "If I didn't know any better, Kakashi-sensei, I'd say you were flirting with me. If only you were so kind to me when we spar, I might actually survive this month."

Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, the conversation was paused when Naruto bounded back in and started to pass out ornaments to hang and materials to create with.

But, that didn't stop either man from stealing glances at the other throughout the night, here and there, until the tree (and Iruka's apartment) were fully decked out.

They were only able to enjoy it for a short period, as it had grown late and Naruto was begging to cook ramen.

Iruka had agreed, recognizing it would eat up a decent amount of time compared to going out, and was hopeful he could sway Kakashi into skipping evening training.

However, to the adults' surprise, Naruto felt full of energy from dinner and joined them to train, sparing any more possibly awkward moments, for that night at least...


	5. December 12th

(I don't own any characters etc etc)

Naruto lingered at the end of the day, once Kakashi had dismissed Team 7.

"Anything on your mind?" Kakashi warily asked.

"Well," Naruto said, crossing his arms. "It's the holiday season."

"I know."

"And, you know that we're working to protect the village from this Santa guy."

Kakashi stifled a yawn, barely. "So we are."

"We need to pick up a few things. Let's go to one of the outside markets."

Kakashi raised his visible eyebrow at the blond. "What?"

Naruto shrugged. "Yeah, let's go! We need to get a few things."

"Go find Iruka for it."

Naruto blew his cheeks out in frustration. "He's working the missions desk til late, I think he's pulling a double."

"He's trying to get out of training, eh?" Kakashi mused, rubbing his masked chin. "It's a Saturday, Naruto, don't you have plans with friends?"

"It's not even five PM," Naruto countered. "And, no. But anyway, this is more important! Do you have anything better to do?"

Kakashi thought about his plans for the evening - since Iruka was working late at the missions office, Kakashi would be going home and reading all night while eating takeout. He nodded. "Actually, yes."

"With people?" Naruto asked, narrowing his eyes at the copy nin.

"Well..."

"Come on, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto sighed, grabbing the man's arm and pulling him along.

They walked towards some of the new outside winter-themed markets that had popped up, largely to entice the village to do extra shopping "and get in the holiday spirit."

"What exactly are we doing here?" Kakashi asked, dreading the answer.

"We need to get some gifts," Naruto stated.

"Isn't that why Santa visits?" Kakashi pointed out.

"Well, technically, yes," Naruto agreed. "But we need some gifts to put under our tree, to lure him in. Create what he thinks is a safe space, so he'll start to leave some and be distracted. Then bam, we get him!"

"Bam's not exactly proper field communication, but I get it," Kakashi laughed. "So, who are you buying for?"

"Sakura and Sasuke," Naruto said, counting on his fingers. "Iruka-sensei, obviously. And you, but not today."

"Me?" Kakashi asked, surprised.

"Sure, I can't leave you out," Naruto said matter of factly. "Let's go over there!" he said, pointing to a nearby stall.

An hour later, Naruto had snacks for Sasuke, and hair pins for Sakura. 

"I have a few ideas for Iruka-sensei," he said to Kakashi. "What are you getting him?"

"Me?" Kakashi asked, surprised yet again.

"Yeah, it's the holidays, and we're all in this together!"

Kakashi thought about this as they walked. "What do you think I should get him?"

Naruto frowned as he thought about it. "Maybe gloves? He did say he was thinking of getting a new pair."

Kakashi nodded and followed him around to several stalls, before spying a pair of dark blue gloves at a stall ran by a retired shinobi.

She greeted him as she was with another customer, but came over as soon as she was done.

"Ah, a lovely pair," she said, passing the gloves to him. "Very fine material, and they don't get in the way of hand seals. One of my favorite products I carry for this time of year."

Kakashi looked at Naruto, who grinned.

"I'll take them," he told her, and she smiled as she rung him up. 

"If you boys would like," she said, passing Kakashi the bag, "one of the civilian schools has a gift wrapping stall, as a fundraiser. Saves you some time."

They thanked her and headed over, getting a place in line, about ten people deep.

"Man, I'm starving!" Naruto sighed as they moved up. "We should get ramen after this!"

Kakashi agreed and they headed to Ichiraku's once they were done, Naruto carrying a bag of gifts, and Iruka's gift tucked safely into Kakashi's vest.

As they were finishing, Naruto suggested they get takeout for Iruka since he was working late. Teuchi happened to overhear and said he would give them a bowl on the house to take.

They thanked him and headed to the missions office, but just outside, Naruto paused.

"I can't go in! What if Iruka-sensei sees my gifts?"

"They're wrapped," Kakashi pointed out.

"I still can't risk it! You take it, and tell him I'll see him tomorrow morning!" Naruto said, running off before Kakashi could argue.

Kakashi shook his head but entered the office, waiting for Iruka to finish with the two shinobi in his line before he approached.

"Good evening, Kakashi-sensei," Iruka greeted him warily. "You're not here to train, are you? Because I'm here for another..." he looked at the clock. "Two hours, and I'm planning on going straight home to bed when I finish."

"Training of a different sort," Kakashi said, giving him an eye smile. Iruka pursed his lips and raised his eyebrows, and Kakashi held up the takeout. "Naruto thought you might be in need of dinner, since it's almost eight o'clock. He couldn't bring it himself, so here I am."

Iruka visibly relaxed and smiled. "Thank you, that's a welcome sight. I did miss dinner, we got swamped from six until just about ten minutes ago. Fortunately, it's getting to be that dead time on a Saturday night."

Kakashi passed him the bag and watched Iruka take out its contents, before looking around. 

"No one else is here?"

"There's one other person," Iruka said. "They're on their own dinner break and then filing, but I assume that they'll also try to duck out early. Thank you, again."

Kakashi shrugged. "No big deal," he said, pulling up a chair to Iruka's desk and sitting in it, propping his feet up on a leg of the desk, well below the desktop.

Iruka cocked his head as he looked at him.

"What?" Kakashi asked.

"I'm surprised you're staying," Iruka admitted as he began to eat.

"Am I not allowed?"

Iruka laughed. "You are. I just thought you'd have better things to do."

"Maa, I reserve all my evenings for you now," Kakashi informed him, and watched the younger man's cheeks darken, though he wasn't sure if it was from the food or what he had just said.

"You don't have to," Iruka murmured, talking to his food. 

Kakashi shrugged. "I enjoy it. You're doing well."

Iruka looked at him, surprised.

"You are," Kakashi admitted, crossing his arms in front of him. "I thought you'd have called it a day by now."

Iruka rolled his eyes. "I don't give up that easily, thank you. And anyway, it's for Naruto, so I definitely won't stop until he's done. That being said, I'm looking forward to the 25th when I can get some proper rest," he laughed.

"Agreed," Kakashi said. "I also thought Naruto would have given up by now..."

Iruka reflected on this in silence as he ate. "I think he's very driven by it, that he truly wants to watch out for the village and everyone in it. I suppose it's part of his path to becoming the Hokage."

Iruka finished his food and cleared off his desk as they talked, with Kakashi not giving any signs he was intending to leave. So, Iruka began to sort and review the scrolls at his desk, getting them ready for the next shift to file, since they'd have more time, all the while talking about this and that with Kakashi.

Before they knew it, the next shift had arrived, clearly surprised to see Kakashi there, but said nothing.

Iruka and Kakashi walked down to the street, and looked at each other in the cold night air.

"Thank you for dinner," Iruka said, smiling.

"Thank you for the conversation," Kakashi said. "Naruto will see you tomorrow morning, and I'll see you in the evening, at our spot." And with that, he gave a mock salute and disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

Iruka softly shook his head, thinking about how busy his day was tomorrow, but for once, not dreading the extra training.


	6. December 14th

(I don't own any characters etc etc)

"We have a special team activity this afternoon," Naruto reminded his team as they trained after lunch. "Don't forget!"

"What is it?" Sakura asked, but Naruto shook his head.

"It's a surprise! But we have to go to the academy for it..."

And so, a few hours later, they were knocking on a familiar classroom door.

Iruka opened it, and smiled. "Hello!"

They greeted him and shuffled in, with everyone but Naruto and Iruka peering around.

"So?" Sasuke sighed. "Whatever this is, let's get it over with."

"In the closet," Iruka said to Naruto, passing him a key.

They watched as Naruto unlocked the classroom's supplies closet and rummaged around, emerging with a box of paper, envelopes, pens, and colored pencils.

"Letters to Santa time!" Naruto shouted triumphantly, as he set the box down on a desk in the middle of the classroom.

His team looked at him, Kakashi with a bored visible quarter of his face; Sasuke with a frown; and Sakura, with a surprised look.

Naruto looked to Iruka for support, and the teacher smiled widely and clapped his hands.

"It's a common tradition for this time of year in a lot of places," Iruka instructed them, passing out paper and markers. "You can ask for something you'd like, perhaps for yourself or for others, and you mail it to Santa."

"To a guy who doesn't exist?" Kakashi mused, and Iruka cleared his throat loudly.

"To the missing nin who is only spotted once a year, if that," Iruka corrected him. "Naruto thinks that aside from engaging in this custom, it would alert Santa to our knowledge of him, that we know he's coming."

"Yeah!" Naruto agreed. "That we're waiting for him," he said, eyes narrowing, punching one fist into his other palm.

The others exchanged a look in silence for a moment.

"Is this really a team activity?" Sasuke sighed as the others began to move to desks apart from each other.

Iruka, Naruto, and Sakura glanced at the copy nin, who uncapped his marker to begin to write. 

"It is, Sasuke, so sit down and participate, or I'll send you back here as a student for the rest of the year," Kakashi said.

"Harsh, lazy..." Sasuke began to grumble as he sat down and begrudgingly began to write.

The classroom was silent for quite some time, save for the sounds of pens scratching as they wrote on the paper. Soon, a few of them grabbed differently colored markers to decorate their letters as well, or, as Naruto explained, "to jazz them up to make sure he reads them."

"What did you ask for?" Naruto asked Sasuke, peering to try to see his letter.

"Vengeance," Sasuke replied.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "You have to ask for something real!"

"Vengeance is real."

"Something you really want!"

"I really want vengeance," Sasuke admonished him.

"Boys," Iruka sighed. "You can ask for whatever you want. I've read people ask for peace on earth, so I think it's the sentiment that counts."

"Peace on earth?" Kakashi said, snorting with laughter. "Who wants that? It'd put us out of work."

Iruka sighed and looked at the classroom ceiling, muttering about needing more patience in his life.

"So, do we go around and read these out loud?" Sakura asked, as she folded her letter.

"No, remember those books we saw?" Naruto said to her. "I think we mail them."

"To where?" she asked, frowning.

"I think there's a Santa mailbox set up in the village," Iruka suggested. "For people to drop them in, and they'll take them regularly."

"I can drop them off," Kakashi offered, and was met with four sets of disbelieving eyes.

"That's generous of you, sensei," Sakura slowly said. 

"Too generous," Sasuke agreed.

"What? Tis the season to do nice things, no?" the copy nin commented. The others remained silent, but continued to give him side eyes as they addressed and sealed their envelopes and passed them to him.

Once they had cleaned up and he had the letters, Kakashi paused. 

"Take the night off, sensei," he said to Iruka, before he jutsued out, leaving no trace he had been in the classroom.

"So," Sakura began. "Who wants to bet that he's going to read them?"

______

Sure enough, Kakashi had jutsued straight home, where he made a cup of tea, took off his sandals and vest, and laid the envelopes on the table before him.

Lifting his forehead protector, he used his sharingan to check for any seals or traps. Satisfied he was safe, he slipped the fabric back down his forehead and ran through a few handseals to delicately open the envelopes.

Sasuke's letter had a black border around it, reminding Kakashi of a type of mourning document.

"Santa," it read. "I want vengeance on those who have wronged me, especially you-know-who. If you're really a missing nin, you should want to take my side in all this.

Let me know when and where to meet to train and seek revenge on those who deserve it. Also, perhaps I could be placed on a stronger team.

Barring that, maybe a few new kunai would be nice.

Signed,

Sasuke."

Kakashi nodded, very like the Uchiha.

Sakura's was next. She had written in the middle of the paper and colored the rest in red, doodling blue snowflakes in the letter part and even drew a few of those white and red twisted candy hooks Kakashi had spied in the village markets.

"Hi Santa," she wrote. "I know Kakashi-sensei says you're a missing nin, but everything I've read says otherwise, so what does he know? Not that I'm trying to be mean with that comment! 

If anything, I think I've been pretty good this year. I'm trying to be nice to Ino-pig," she had clearly written before crossing out "pig."

"And have you seen my teammates? Naruto and Sasuke require a lot of patience from me, not to mention our jonin-sensei always being late!

Please keep my team and family safe, and help me to become even stronger and faster next year! Also, I'd like that bag I saw last week in that one store when I was out with my mom.

And for Sasuke to go out with me.

Thank you!

Sakura."

"Good luck with all that," Kakashi said out loud, as he sipped his tea.

Naruto's letter was, surprisingly, not orange. Or at least, not very orange. The boy had clearly tried to depict himself and two adult shinobi in uniform fighting a red-dressed shinobi.

Judging from the brown ponytail on one Konoha shinobi and grey spikey hair on the other, Kakashi could guess who was helping Naruto.

He couldn't help it, and stole a glance or two with his sharingan.

"Santa-san, from a village that I don't know (yet)," it began. "I hope you're training as hard as we are, because we're ready for you! We know all about you, and your tricks.

Bring your reindeer, and your elves, and whatever else you have, because we'll protect Konoha from everything you've got! I won't say more, but I think it's safe to say that only one of us will have a good day on the 25th, and it won't be you!"

But, if you are bringing gifts and leaving them, maybe I could have some ramen coupons for Ichiraku's? Enough so I could definitely take Iruka-sensei and Kakashi-sensei, since they've been helping me. And to take Sakura, if she'll finally agree to go out with me.

And whatever Sasuke wrote about me, don't believe him, he's just bitter.

Watch your back!

Naruto Uzumaki, future Hokage!!!!!!!!!"

"Eesh," Kakashi said, grimacing to himself. "That's....some letter."

He hummed to himself as he opened Iruka's, by far the nicest handwriting and cleanest letter. It had some snowflakes tastefully drawn along the left side, as if snow was falling down the page.

"Hello, Santa. When Naruto told me he wanted us to write letters to you, I was surprised, and spent quite some time thinking about what to write. What do I need to ask for? I have friends who support me, a stable roof over my head, food on the table, and jobs that keep me busy and let me help others. And Naruto, who's my new family. 

Well, I guess a lot of people would say I just need to meet someone, but since everything that happened with Mizuki, I suppose I veered away from that for a while. Who knows, maybe you'll work some magic and help me go on a few nice dates next year? The closest I've come to that has been regular training with Kakashi, so take that how you will about my personal life. Though, he is exceptionally attentive to me while we train...ah, but the shinobi mixer and other holiday events are coming up, and all the movies we watched have happy endings from that type of gathering, so perhaps...here I go rambling though...

But, more importantly, please watch over my current and former students, my coworkers, my friends, and my family, and Konoha in general.

Gratefully,

Iruka.

PS I have to assume, Kakashi-sensei, that you're reading this letter since you so kindly offered to drop it off. If that's the case, let me die from embarrassment now, and please, please, please don't mention any of this to me or ANYONE. Who am I kidding, I'm mortified, but it's too late to write a new letter as the kids are already addressing the envelopes..."

Kakashi chuckled as he finished Iruka's letter before replacing the letters in their envelopes and sealing them again, stacking them to drop off later that night.

Once he was finished, he continued to drink his tea as he thought about the other man's letter.

His own letter lay on top of the others. If anyone had read it, they would have seen an undecorated piece of paper, with a short message on it:

"Who would have thought that one campfire story would bring about so much change? If only my old team and sensei could see me now. Keep an eye on them, and my new team.

And on Iruka, so he doesn't kill me. 

And on Naruto, so I don't kill him."

Kakashi opened his letter, adding a few words to it, before sealing it up, finishing his tea, and preparing to leave to "mail" the letters.

"PS Perhaps I could be of assistance for Iruka? In spending more time with him, he's not what I thought he was, and perhaps I'm not as bad in his eyes either..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Iruka....but I couldn't help it!
> 
> Also! I wrote two holiday stories last year, if you're in need of more of it. "Fall Holidays" and "31 Days of December. Or, shinobi gift exchange."


	7. December 18th

(I don't own any characters etc etc)

"Fancy seeing you here," Kakashi greeted Iruka, who rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, seeing you at my job is so shocking," Iruka said, glancing around the missions office. "What can I do for you?"

Kakashi wordlessly held out a piece of paper to Iruka, who accepted it and read it, raising an eyebrow.

"Where did he come up with this?" Iruka asked the other man, who shrugged.

"He is spending a lot of time at the library..."

Iruka sighed. "All those years I couldn't get him to do that, and this holiday comes along....I guess I shouldn't complain, too much," he said, pouting slightly.

"Is it safe to assume I can leave it to you? I don't really do....this," Kakashi said.

Iruka reached into his flak vest and pulled out a piece of paper, passing it to Kakashi.

"Kakashi-sensei has to join us tonight, no matter what," the copy nin read aloud. "But what if I have plans?"

"Do you?" Iruka asked, excited. 

"Training you!" Kakashi said, his visible eye curving into a smile.

Iruka visibly deflated. "I was hoping you'd have real plans and I could get the night off again," he grumbled.

"No plans either, sensei?"

Iruka shook his head. "Since that's when we train, I stopped making any plans for the evenings, not that I had the most active nightlife anyway," he admitted.

"Maa, sensei, we're basically dating," Kakashi teased him.

"As if I'd date someone who trains me into the ground night after night," Iruka retorted. 

"That's affection," Kakashi argued. "Making you better, and stronger. And remember when I brought the thermos of tea last week?"

"I also remember you were under a poncho, and I had to train in the rain without one."

"That's neither here nor there," Kakashi mused. "We'd better get a move on, if we're to get in some sparring later."

Iruka frowned, again. "We have less than a week to go, and in that time there's the winter solstice festival, and the shinobi holiday mixer, and Christmas eve. And I'm still going on runs with Naruto. Maybe we could just wrap up our sessions and call it a night on them?"

If Iruka didn't know better, he'd have sworn that Kakashi was actually surprised by his suggestion, if only for a moment, before the mask of aloofness was worn again.

"Then I have you for at least three more nights after tonight, in between all that," Kakashi said. "Now, a little blond bird told me you're finishing work about now, and we've got some shopping to do..."

____

"Ready?" Iruka asked.

"Ready!" Naruto cheered.

Kakashi sighed, and the others glared at him.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto shouted. "Stop being so...you!"

Iruka couldn't help but laugh. "Isn't there a seasonal term for him?" he asked Naruto, who paused to consider it.

"Maybe a grinch?" the blond suggested, and Iruka smirked.

"Maybe!"

"I just can't believe I'm spending the night making holiday cookies," Kakashi sighed. "Shouldn't Sakura and Sasuke be here instead? Or, anyone?"

"No!" Naruto informed him, loudly. "I'm making cookies to surprise them, especially Sakura."

Iruka laughed as he busied himself organizing the ingredients he and Kakashi bought on their way to his apartment from Hokage Tower. He couldn't help but smile at the scene in his kitchen. He and Kakashi were in their shinobi blues, vests hanging by the front door. Naruto was in a black t-shirt, wearing an orange apron he had gifted Iruka with one of his first paychecks as a genin. And taking up almost half the table were various colors and types of frosting, sprinkles, and candies.

It was, he noted, a warm scene, a familial scene. He couldn't help but think it was something right out of a holiday movie. 

"Maa, sensei, we're basically dating," floated through his mind.

What if...he began to wonder. What if this was real? Cooking or baking in his kitchen, with Kakashi and Naruto, as a real family?

They had been spending an awful lot of time together, and in between long runs and sparring sessions, they did talk a lot.

And, Iruka supposed, Kakashi could have said no to all of these holiday events at any time...

Plus there was the almost-there flirting, at times. From both of them, he had to admit.

"Iruka-sensei?" Naruto said. "Did you hear me?"

Iruka snapped back to reality, shaking his head. "Hmm?"

"I was asking if we can get started?"

Iruka smiled. "Of course!" he said, and off they went.

Naruto had picked several types of cookies to make. Sugar cookies, gingerbread people, and a lemon bar-type thing.

"Where's the pickled radish?" Naruto asked, as he made a new batch of sugar cookies as one set baked.

"Here," Kakashi said, passing it to him.

The adults watched as Naruto divided up the cookie dough into three bowls, adding radishes to one bowl and mixing it well.

"And the wasabi? Oh, I see it!" Naruto said, adding some to another bowl.

By now, both adults were wide-eyed at the horror unfolding in front of them.

"And..." Naruto said, trailing off as he looked around, before Iruka passed him the diced garlic the blond had requested.

"Okay, I give up," Kakashi said. "What are you doing?"

"Making cookies? Duh," Naruto said, as he mixed. "Can you pass me another baking sheet?"

"Those are...unique...flavors," Iruka posed, passing the tray.

"I know!" Naruto cheerfully agreed, as he placed cookies on it.

Iruka and Kakashi exchanged a look, and Iruka shrugged.

They washed the dishes and cleared the main table so they could start to decorate while Naruto's "special" cookies baked.

Following designs Naruto drew, they decorated sugar cookies to look like trees and snowmen. Or, at least, Iruka and Naruto did.

Kakashi sat reading his book, stealing glances at the others, who let him be, until they moved onto the gingerbread people.

"You're helping with this," Iruka informed the copy nin, nudging the tray of colored frosting bags towards him.

"You've seen my mission reports," Kakashi sighed. "Do you really want me to ruin them?"

Iruka rolled his eyes. "They're cookies. Decorate them like Naruto's pictures. Eyes, smile, buttons, maybe a bowtie or outline."

Kakashi sighed, loudly, but did as told...for two cookies.

"This is more boring than watching Naruto flirt with Sakura," Kakashi commented, and Iruka snorted.

"Hey!" Naruto angrily shouted, before pausing. "Hey!" he then said, in a surprised tone. "That's a good idea! I'm going to decorate a cookie like her and give it to her!"

"You could do one for Sasuke too, since he's a teammate," Iruka commented.

"Sure!" Naruto agreed. "And you guys decorate for people you know too! Oh, you should decorate a cookie that looks like each other!"

Iruka and Kakashi glanced at each other, as they were sat across from each other, and shrugged.

They worked in silence, looking at each other here and there. Purely for the sake of their cookies, they assured themselves.

"Finally!" Naruto sighed as he set down a frosting bag. "Look, this is Sakura, with her hair and red dress. She has heart eyes because she's going to go out with me! And that's Sasuke, with stupid hair and a stupid frown on his stupid face."

"Naruto," Iruka sighed.

"And this is me, also with heart eyes for Sakura!" the blond finished. "Now you!"

Kakashi held up his. "This is Iruka. Note the frosting scar, and shinobi blues. And see, his eyes are angry and he's frowning, because I turned in a bad report."

"How accurate," Iruka mused. "And this is Kakashi, also in shinobi blues. With pawprints all over him from where his summons tackled him and got him muddy. Which he'll likely blame for his bad report, that was probably already poorly written and overdue."

"And his forehead protector is covering his eye, just like in real life!" Naruto said in awe. "Iruka-sensei, that's so cool!"

"You basically covered it all in blue," Kakashi commented. "Is that how you see me?"

"That's how everyone sees you, with the mask and all," Iruka said, shaking his head. "Anyway, Naruto, what are we doing with the last batch of cookies?"

"Decorating them too!" Naruto said, bringing them over.

"No, I mean, what are we actually doing with them?" Iruka said.

"What he means," Kakashi begins, "is that they're sure to taste awful. Who wronged you so badly that you want to poison them?"

"Santa, but he hasn't wronged me. Yet. Anyway, it's all part of the plan," the blond said as he began to sort through the frosting.

"What?" the adults said in unison.

Naruto paused and looked at them. "Believe it! You're supposed to put out milk and cookies for him. So we'll put these out, he'll eat them, and he'll cough since they're so strong and bad. Then we'll definitely know he's there!"

"Makes sense," Kakashi mused.

"True..." Iruka sighed. "Umm, Naruto, why don't we do red frosting and some white sprinkles? Like a classic look, something that's sure to attract him?"

Naruto nodded and set to decorating, with the adults watching and ocassionally helping.

Eventually, everything was done and packed up. Most of the cookies were remaining at Iruka's, with Naruto taking his team's cookies with him, along with a few extra.

Kakashi left Iruka the Iruka cookie to keep, and followed Naruto to the door.

Naruto waved and ran away, and Kakashi paused.

"The Naruto cookies," he said. "You're really going to keep them?"

"Of course not," Iruka laughed. "I'm throwing them out and remaking them, he'll never know. Why do you think I suggested a simple decoration I can recreate?"

"Sneaky," Kakashi mused, and Iruka laughed again.

"And don't you forget it," the teacher said. "Speaking of, don't forget this," he said, passing a small bag to Kakashi, who took it and left, though not before informing Iruka he'd see him in two hours to train.

When he got home, Kakashi opened the bag and smiled to himself as he saw the Kakashi cookie, pawprints and all.

"Sneaky sensei," he said, as he made some tea to go along with it.


	8. December 21st

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Fun fact, I added an extra chapter to the total, all will be up this week though! Look for back to back days of posting soon!)

(I don't own any characters etc etc)

Iruka sighed as he returned home in the early afternoon.

"This day did not go as I thought it would," he sighed to himself as he turned the shower to one of its hottest settings, jumping in once it was warm enough.

He stood and tried to warm up as he thought about the day so far.

The academy was out for winter break, but he was still due to meet Naruto for a few more days of training. 

"The last stretch, we can't slack now!" the blond reminded him over the weekend, and who was Iruka to say no to him?

After all, just a few more days and then he could sleep in, Iruka reminded himself, as he yawned widely and rubbed his face.

They had gone on quite the long run since Iruka didn't have to be at the academy. So long, in fact, that they had decided to pick up a small to-go breakfast, where Naruto had gotten extra for his teammates. Iruka helped to carry the food to where he was meeting up with Sakura and Sasuke, to the others' delight.

Then, they had invited Iruka to join them for warmup exercises as they waited for Kakashi, and Iruka agreed as he figured it would serve as a cool-down for him.

Only, before he actually left, the copy nin had arrived and suggested Iruka join the team for morning training.

"After all, you were going to cancel tonight," Kakashi had reminded Iruka. "So why waste a perfectly good training session?"

Even now in his shower, Iruka was still annoyed at the other man for putting him on the spot in front of his former students, but he had agreed.

"Boundaries, Iruka," he told himself as he grabbed shampoo. "Boundaries!"

Had Kakashi pushed them a bit harder since Iruka was there? Probably. It was good for the kids, Iruka sighed to himself.

Then, the team had decided to get lunch, and Iruka joined them before (finally) calling it quits so he could (again, finally) go home.

Just in time to shower and rest before heading out to the winter solstice festival, the reason he had cancelled training for that night.

Iruka sighed for the umpteenth time as he toweled off, and yawned again.

"A nap, I have time for a nap," he said, as he pulled pajamas on and tumbled into bed, delighting at the warmth it offered him.

_________

He felt like a brand new man when he woke a few hours later and dressed in a clean uniform before heading to meet his friends at the west gate.

Kotetsu and Izumo waved at him as he approached, and they hung out for ten minutes until the next shift of gate duty relieved them.

"Up to anything fun on your first day off?" Kotetsu asked Iruka as they waited.

"Not much, not yet," Iruka admitted. "I trained with Naruto and then his whole team this morning, then went home to shower and nap before coming out here."

"Still training with him? You're a better man than me," Izumo praised Iruka, who shook his head.

"It's been a lot, trust me. I'll be glad for some time off."

When the relief arrived, the three set off through the village to the festival.

"I am so ready to party!" Izumo cheered as they joined the crowd heading over, and the others laughed.

"We have the big party in like two days," Iruka reminded him, but Izumo shrugged.

"No such thing as too many parties!" Izumo shot back.

"Yeah, but the winter solstice always reminds me it's going to get so cold, colder than it is now," Kotetsu sighed.

"Still, it's a fun event," Iruka mused. "I had to skip it last year when I was pulling a double at the missions desk, so let's do everything this year!"

The others laughed but agreed as they entered the festival area, and they ate traditional foods to help promote good luck, including ones containing carrot, lotus root, and radish, buying dishes from vendors and splitting it amongst themselves.

They were wandering around debating what to do next, when someone called Iruka's name.

Turning to look behind them, Naruto was waving as he led his team to meet the other adults.

"Hello, everyone," Iruka called out as they approached. He turned to glance at his friends briefly. "If anyone tries to drag me off for training, kill me first."

Team 7 greeted them as they walked up, and Izumo and Kotetsu suggested they head to a shrine to purchase good luck charms, which the others agreed to.

"Remind me why we need them?" Naruto asked, and Sakura sighed.

"Because it's the winter solstice," she informed him.

"And?" Naruto pressed. 

"Didn't you ever pay attention in Iruka-sensei's classes?" Sasuke commented.

"I did...I just forgot," Naruto admitted.

"Glad to know I made such a good impression," Iruka groaned.

"This is a turning point," Izumo chimed in. "The sun is getting reborn, and everyone's luck can change from negative to positive."

"Really?" Naruto asked, eyes wide.

"Yep!" Kotetsu added. "We should get yuzu too, so we can take yuzu baths for extra good luck."

"And for our skin, to make it extra nice!" Sakura added, batting her eyelashes at Sasuke.

"Is that all true?" Naruto asked Kakashi, who shrugged.

"Maa, I suppose."

"Of course it is," Iruka assured Naruto as they approached a vendor Iruka knew. "They say it helps fight the cold."

The vendor, a kind old woman, nodded. "Iruka-sensei is right! A good yuzu bath tonight, and you'll never catch a cold during winter."

Naruto, Sakura, Kotetsu, and Izumo cooed over that and began to pick items to purchase.

"If that's true, sensei," Kakashi said to Iruka, "I'd best get you some so you're good to go for our training."

Iruka rolled his eyes. "You mean, tomorrow night?"

Kakashi gave money to the vendor as she passed him two yuzu, nodding thanks to her. "Well, yes, our last full training session so it should probably be an extra long one. But also Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. And then who knows," he said, passing one to Iruka.

"What do you mean, 'who knows?'" Iruka asked as he stood with a yuzu in hand.

Kakashi shrugged as the others finished making their purchases.

"Come on, Kakashi-sensei, we're supposed to meet up with Asuma-sensei's team!" Sakura said, taking the copy nin by the arm and pulling him away.

Team 7 waved goodbye to the three adults as they walked away, Iruka watching them go.

"I'm ready to get something hot to drink!" Kotetsu said.

Izumo agreed and they set off in the opposite direction from Team 7, Iruka's mind mulling over the copy nin's words...and dreading the next night's training.


	9. December 23rd

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shinobi party time!

(I don't own any characters etc etc)

"What are you wearing tonight?" Anko asked Iruka as she perched on his desk in the missions office.

"My uniform?" he answered, shrugging, as he stamped a scroll and thanked the last person in his line.

"Boring!" she sighed. "You have to look good!"

"You don't think I look good in uniform?" Iruka asked her, raising an eyebrow. "I'm hurt!" he said playfully.

"Everyone looks good in our uniform," she said, rolling her eyes. "But it's the big shinobi mixer tonight, so you need to up your game! We're all having fun, letting our hair down -"

"I'll be keeping mine up, actually," Iruka interrupted.

"Relaxing, meeting, mingling, getting it on," she continued. "And you're too single."

"I don't think that's actually a thing," he argued, but she waved it off and studied her nails.

"I should get these done," she said, holding a hand out to inspect it. "Want to get lunch first?"

Iruka looked at the clock and nodded. "I'm done in twenty minutes, sure."

"Cool, I'm going to see who's in the jonin lounge to bug until then," Anko said, jumping off his desk. "And to see who else is hot, single, and coming tonight!"

"Anko!" Iruka groaned. "You're going to be the death of me."

"You'll thank me at your wedding, one day," she said, blowing a kiss to him as she left Iruka sitting at his desk, shaking his head.

___

After lunch, they parted ways. She went to get her nails done, and Iruka meandered around the village, in part enjoying having time off, and in part looking for a cheap, tacky gift as part of the random gift exchange that night.

Later that day, he was in pajamas at home listening to holiday music as sat on his living room floor as he wrapped the gift, a tea infuser that looked like a squirrel sitting on the edge of one's cup.

Nodding at his work, he stretched and looked at the time.

"I still have time to kill," he said, laying down on the floor on his back, hands folded under his head.

Anko's words floated through his head, and he laughed as he remembered his other friends telling him he'd be in good shape for tonight when he told them about his extra training with Naruto.

"They were right," Iruka thought to himself. He was in better shape than he had been, and as a result, looked good and felt good.

He felt even better after a shower, and as he dried off, he thought about what to wear for a moment, before shaking his head and grabbing a new uniform.

"I'll at least leave the vest at home," he mused to himself.

And so, he soon found himself grabbing a standard issue uniform jacket (which mimicked the usual vest), tucking the gift into one of its pockets, and setting off.

Iruka's heart felt lighter than it had for some time. The academy was out for a few weeks, he wasn't taking many extra shifts at the missions office, and soon he would get to sleep in once Christmas was done and Naruto had (or hadn't) caught Santa.

"Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, then Christmas, then a long weekend of doing nothing," he hummed to himself as he waved at a family he knew as he passed them outside a shop.

Entering Hokage Tower, he followed a throng of shinobi joking and laughing, running into some of his academy co-workers.

"Did you hear?" one of them asked. "There's a surprise tonight!"

"Probably more than one," another joked. "Shinobi, plus free alcohol?"

Iruka laughed as they walked into the room, where the others were called away.

"Ru!" Izumo called out, waving from a table. "Over here!"

He made his way over and joined Izumo and Kotetsu, taking off his jacket and setting it on a chair. Iruka took out the gift and waved it.

"Where do these go?" he asked.

"Over there," Kotetsu said, pointing at a table across the room. "And look at that!" he said, pointing at more tables.

Iruka squinted as he looked. "What's that?"

"An academy fundraiser," Kotetsu said. "Why didn't you tell us about it?"

"I didn't know," Iruka said, surprised. 

"Yeah, it's a silent auction," Izumo said. "Let's see if there's anything good."

The others nodded and they headed over, with Iruka dropping off his gift first.

Items or vouchers were on decorated tables, with scrolls next to them for people to write their bids on.

"Two hours left!" a voice boomed in the room. "Bid on prizes, raise some funds for the academy! Thank you to all our donors! Some really great prizes to win!"

The three friends tried to walk around the tables together, but the announcement had led to more people coming to the auction than there had been.

"They don't want us to forget to bid as the night goes on," Iruka heard someone say. "Otherwise there would be more time for it..."

Iruka nodded as he walked around, debating on what he should bid on.

There were some nice slippers he was interested in, or should he enter a raffle for one of Ichiraku's prizes?

"See anything you like?" a voice rumbled into his ear, and Iruka turned, caught off guard by the innuendo.

He smiled. "Hello, Kakashi. I think Ichiraku's is calling my name, as usual. You?"

The copy nin silently beckoned him with a bent finger, and Iruka followed with a raised eyebrow.

"That," Kakashi said, stopping at the end of a table that had several items.

"The gift certificate for that new fancy salon?" Iruka asked.

Kakashi sighed. "No, that," he said grabbing Iruka's shoulders and steering him to the other end of the table quickly.

Iruka rolled his eyes. "Why am I not surprised?"

Kakashi pulled him aside but stayed close to him, since it was still fairly crowded. "You're helping me win it."

Iruka crossed his arms. "Why should I help you win the Icha Icha Winter Wonderland movie?"

"Because it's new and I didn't even know it existed," Kakashi said. "I'll have to write a stern letter to my fanclub...it must be extremely new. Anyway, and because we're a team."

"What?"

"We're part of Naruto's Santa capture-or-whatever team, right? Think of all the time I spent doing all of that stuff. You can help me for two measly hours to win the movie."

Iruka considered this, and had to admit the other man was right. "Fine. What's the plan? And I expect a generous bid from you, it's for the academy, after all."

"Yes, sensei," Kakashi drawled. "I'll bid here and there, but you'd better be around it when bids are closing, so I can be the final bid. Or, you bid under my name."

"I'm not committing holiday fraud for you," Iruka frowned. "I'll be there when it closes."

"Good," Kakashi said, giving Iruka an upside down eye smile that, combined with their unexpected proximity to each other to talk quietly, had no business making butterflies appear in Iruka's stomach. "Til then, Iruka."

Iruka watched him go, trying to figure out why his pulse was suddenly racing, before shaking his head.

"I need a drink," he sighed. "And one, no two, cookies..."

______

It was an enjoyable party, everyone could agree. Fun, food, dancing, and the usual target practice contests that occurred at these parties. Otherwise known as the "who's going to patch up all the holes in the wall from when we couldn't quite throw straight anymore?" game.

"Anko is killing everyone with the mistletoe," Genma sighed as he ran into Izumo and Iruka, rubbing his cheek. "Avoid her!"

Iruka couldn't help but laugh. "I think I read about it, kissing because of a shrub, or something?"

"And how," Genma said. "She's a terror with it!"

"Sounds about right," Izumo mused. "I think I'm going to try to find some, and then find Ko," he said, winking at Iruka.

"Go on, have fun!" Iruka called after him.

"The silent auction is ending in ten minutes!" a voice boomed out, and the crowd began to move towards the tables.

Iruka silently cursed, wondering if and how to get to his target table. He weaved, dodged, and excused himself more times than he could count, before finally making it there.

"One minute!"

He puffed his cheeks out as he moved around two people, and nodded at Kakashi, who was lingering at the next table down.

Iruka looked at the item to the left of the movie, pretending to study its scroll, counting down in his head. 

"Don't even!" Iruka heard Anko say, and looked up to see her glaring at him. 

"What?"

"The massage," she said, nodding at the scroll he had looked at. "I love you, but it's mine, back off!"

Iruka laughed and held up his hands. "No problem," he said, as he moved to the movie itself, just as the final countdown began.

Kakashi's name was on there twice, scratched out twice, and Ebisu was currently the top bid.

"Sensei," Kakashi sighed, appearing to his right as the copy nin leaned in and added his bid. "Ebisu is coming!"

Iruka looked up, and sure enough, Ebisu was trying to squeeze through the crowd, clearly hoping to secure his win.

"Ten, nine, eight," the announcer shouted.

Ebisu drew closer.

"Seven, six, five!"

Iruka and Kakashi looked at each other in horror.

"Four, three, two!"

Iruka panicked slightly, unsure of what to do.

"One!" 

Iruka jumped onto the table, sitting on the scroll, just as the event was closed.

He looked wide-eyed at Kakashi, who looked back at him with an equally wide visible eye.

"Hey, you two!" Anko said, next to them, and they turned to look at her. She grinned at them and glanced up at the ceiling...

Above their heads...

They followed her gaze, only to see mistletoe.

"Kiss, you two!" she cackled.

"Shh!" Iruka hissed at her.

Fortunately, in a rare Anko moment, she obliged. Mostly.

"Well?" she nagged them, just at a lower volume.

Iruka looked at Kakashi, unsure of what to do or say, especially as he was still sat on the scroll.

To his surprise, Kakashi shrugged and gently pulled Iruka up off the table to a standing position. The copy nin leaned in, planting a masked kiss on his cheek.

"Thanks for your help," he said, reaching behind Iruka for the scroll. "I'll see you tomorrow. And I'll bring the movie, we can watch it."

Iruka blinked rapidly, unsure of what to say, as Kakashi walked away.

Anko slung an arm around his shoulders. "So, I'd say tonight was a success!" she laughed, giving Iruka a side hug. "I got my massage, and you got a date!"

"I didn't....he's not..." Iruka protested, but she ignored him. 

"Whatever, sure. I hope he got you something good for the holidays!" she said, excited. "I'm going to go pay for my prize, then we should hit the bar again!"

___

The rest of the party was a bit of a blur for Iruka, filled with food, drinks, and trying to get the kiss out of his head.

He was still thinking about it when he got home and crawled into bed, holding the small gift he had grabbed off the exchange table.

Unwrapping it, he smiled at the item, a ramen stress squeeze toy, and thought about seeing Naruto tomorrow.

His relief was short lived, as he remembered Kakashi would be joining them, including spending the night. Again.

Sighing, Iruka buried his head under his pillow, and decided to leave the village next December.

"I can be a missing nin for 25 days a year, right?" he thought to himself as he fell asleep.


	10. December 24th

(I don't own any characters etc etc)

Iruka waved goodbye to Naruto as they parted ways from their final morning run, and headed home to do some extra cleaning before the others joined him at his apartment that night, picking up some extra groceries on his way.

Stocking up his kitchen, he made a cup of tea and looked around. His apartment told quite the story of this December.

Decorations they bought and made, the tree Kakashi got them. Cookies from just last week sat on his counter, and Naruto's notes from their movie night were laying on top of them.

And his body was in good shape, though aching, from all the training.

Not to mention, there was the kiss from last night running through his mind.

Iruka shook his head. "It was just due to Anko and her mistletoe," he reminded himself. "He didn't even take his mask down for it! Not that he would, in a crowded room..." Iruka groaned and ran a hand through his hair. "It was nothing. Life will go back to normal after tomorrow, and I'll see him here and there as we used to."

A pang of...something...ran through him at the thought of not seeing Kakashi on an almost daily basis, and the copy nin's words from how long ago floated in his brain.

Basically dating? No, Iruka reminded himself.

He finished his tea and set about making sure his own gifts were safe from prying eyes (bought, wrapped, hidden away in early December, thank you very much) and tidied up his apartment, before he decided to rest and read, enjoying having time off from the academy.

____

His apartment started to grow dark, and so Iruka put on the regular lights and holiday lights and set about cooking, letting the pot simmer on the stove.

At about five thirty in the evening, there was a loud knock on his door, and Iruka opened it to find Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi, all wearing backpacks.

"Hello!" he greeted them as he stood aside, letting them in.

They took their shoes off at the door and Naruto and Sasuke went to the second bedroom to put their things down.

"You can put your things in my bedroom," Iruka suggested to Kakashi, who raised an eyebrow.

"I'd say you're moving a bit fast, but I won't complain," the copy nin said, and Iruka blushed slightly.

"Not like that," he sighed. "I'm not having a guest sleep on the sofa on Christmas."

"But I like the sofa, and I can't put you out of your bed on a holiday," Kakashi said. "Oh! We're sharing?"

Iruka coughed awkwardly. "No, not that either. I'll tell you more later," he said, gesturing to his room.

Kakashi did as asked, taking a few extra moments to look around at the pictures and knickknacks in the bedroom.

"Nice blanket," he said as he entered the kitchen, and Iruka laughed.

"Thanks," the teacher said. "My friends got it for me as a holiday gag gift, a new take on the ugly sweater." His bed was adorned with a large knitted blanket with bold white and green stripes and two large red reindeer. 

"And where should I put the Icha Icha movie I won last night for us to watch?" Kakashi asked, sticking his hands in his pockets.

"Not. With. The. Kids. Here."

"That's not a full no," Kakashi mused.

Just then, said kids came in, ending that discussion, and they all sat at the kitchen table.

"Okay, what's the plan?" Iruka asked Naruto, who nodded.

"Okay!" the blond shouted. "First, we eat dinner, I'm starving!"

"You're always starving," Sasuke sighed.

"Then we put up more decorations!"

"More?" Iruka asked, looking around. "Where would we even put them?"

"Garlands," Naruto responded. "We'll find places to hang them. Santa will get caught in them if they're on the lower side."

"I see..." Iruka said, looking to Kakashi for support, only to find the copy nin had taken out his orange book to read. Iruka kicked him underneath the table; Kakashi raised an eyebrow as he looked at Iruka, but shrugged and resumed reading.

Iruka sighed. "Maybe we should do those last, so we don't get caught. But, go on," he said to Naruto.

"Then we watch a holiday movie. Some books said adults read stories to the kids, but we're too old for that!" Naruto said.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Aren't we too old to believe in Santa period?"

"I think it's all part of the fun," Iruka suggested. "By the way, it's nice to have you here to join us, Sasuke."

"I had no choice. They threatened me," the Uchiha grumbled.

"Threatened with a good time," the copy nin said from behind his book.

"Kami, just kill me now," Iruka said underneath his breath.

"ANYWAY!" Naruto shouted. He cleared his throat and returned to a normal volume. "Then we put out a few gifts to lure Santa, put out the 'special' cookies and milk, and start to keep watch."

"Keep watch?" Sasuke said.

"We need to have guard duty to look out for him," Naruto said. "Duh!"

"Count me out, I'm sleeping through the night," Sasuke said.

"That's fine," Iruka chimed in, seeing Naruto prepare for a fight. "Naruto, Kakashi, and I will take shifts."

"Why me?" Kakashi whined, putting his book down.

"Because you got us into this mess to begin with," Iruka reminded him. "We'll talk details about guard duty as we get closer. For now, let's make rice and set the table, the curry will be done soon."

And so, the four of them sat for dinner and talked all about the last month, including missions Team 7 went on, plans for New Year's and the new year overall, and general village news and gossip.

Dishes were later washed, and they sat down to watch a new holiday movie, an action one involving stopping a terroristic plot and the heroes trying to still be home for Christmas morning.

"That could be us!" Naruto said as the credits rolled. "Stopping the missing nin Santa Claus, rescuing the village, then eating pancakes tomorrow morning!"

"Dobe," Sasuke sighed. "Santa isn't real. And if he was, don't you think he has more important things to do as a missing nin than leave gifts?"

"He breaks into people's houses to do that, so he's probably just scouting them out to see where he wants to come back to to rob!" Naruto said. "The gifts are just a distraction for us."

"I hate you," Iruka whispered to Kakashi. "For starting all this."

Kakashi gave him an upside down eye smile. "But it drew us closer together!"

"You've been a pain to me, literally," Iruka said, shaking his head. "Now what?" he asked Naruto.

"Garlands and cookies!"

And so, they began to set up garlands that hung just a few feet from the ceiling, to the frustration of the adults, who then had to crouch to walk in the living room.

"We can eat these," Naruto said, opening one container of homemade cookies. "But these are for Santa," he said, opening another and taking out red and white cookies.

"Why are those for him?" Sasuke asked, watching Naruto plate a few of them.

"Don't ask," Kakashi sighed.

"It's a secret," Naruto agreed, as he left the plate on a small table near the tree.

They began to eat cookies as they discussed that night.

"So," Naruto began. "Guard duty."

"Well," Iruka said. "I think we've learned that Santa comes when the children are asleep, so Kakashi or I should take first watch?"

Naruto nodded. "I'll take the one after that." He scrunched up his face as he thought about it. "So, if we start soon, it's almost ten o'clock...and we wake up at..."

"Noon?" Sasuke asked, hopeful.

"I was thinking, six in the morning," Naruto stated, and three faces fell at that suggestion. "What? All the stories and movies say families get up early on Christmas morning. So why not us?"

Iruka sighed. "I can sleep in the next morning, sure. So that's eight hours of guard duty for three of us..."

"Maa, I'll take the first two hours, I'll wake Naruto at midnight, and he can wake you at three," Kakashi suggested.

Iruka looked at Naruto, who nodded. "Sure," the teacher said. "It's almost bedtime then, is everything ready?"

Naruto looked around. "Cookies are out...we need milk!"

He ran to his room and brought back a few presents, placing them underneath the tree, then ran to the fridge. The other three heard him open the fridge, close it, open a cupboard, then some rather loud rummaging, and he returned far later than he should have, carrying a mug of milk.

"There! No one touch it!" he said as he placed it next to the cookies.

"What did you do?" Sasuke sighed.

"I'm leaving special milk for Santa," Naruto said, grinning. "I got a sleeping tea from a shop in town and steeped it to make a concentrate, and added it to the milk!" He placed his hands behind his head and grinned.

"Since we're on guard duty, we should actually see him. But if he's got any tricks for that, he'll get trapped in the garland. And he'll eat the cookies and cough or react to them another way, and if those don't get him, he'll drink some milk to wash it down and fall asleep! Then we've got him for sure!"

The room was silent as the others processed this.

"You're...drugging...Santa?" Iruka asked, slowly. 

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto whined. "It's just a small sleeping thing!"

"I'm staying out of it," Iruka said, shaking his head. "Right, Naruto, Sasuke, off to bed. Kakashi, you're on watch. Wake me if anyone needs anything."

The others agreed, and three of them headed to the bedrooms, leaving Kakashi on his own in the living room, where he took out his book and sat in his shinobi blues, reading with his feet up.

As expected, he had a silent watch, and at midnight went to wake Naruto, who used the bathroom and came out in his usual style of pajamas, only this time wearing a red top.

Kakashi looked at him questioningly, with a raised eyebrow.

"What?" Naruto said, shrugging. "They're my holiday ones!"

"Sure, whatever," Kakashi said. "You good?" Naruto nodded. "Good. No sign of Santa yet, good luck. Wake Iruka when it's his turn," the copy nin said, before going to brush his teeth, replacing his mask on his face, and cautiously entering Iruka's bedroom.

To his surprise, the light was on and Iruka was awake.

"How'd it go?" he asked, yawning.

Kakashi shrugged. "Fine, nothing to report. What are we doing with this?" he asked, waving a hand at the bed. "And, more importantly, with Naruto? Just let him sit awake for a few hours, then pretend Santa came during your watch?"

"And have him think I failed at my guard duty? As if!" Iruka sighed. "We're sharing the bed after all, I admit, but we have two different blankets," he said, showing how he was on the left side of the bed under his holiday blanket, and gesturing to the other side of the bed and its pillow and blanket for the copy nin.

Kakashi paused before shrugging again and approached, taking off his forehead protector and leaving it next to the bed, along with his weapons pouch. He had taken off his leg wrappings at the start of his watch, so he was in fairly comfortable uniform clothing already.

Getting into the bed, he remained sitting up as he pulled the blanket over him and turned to look at Iruka, also sitting up.

Iruka scratched his own ear as he fidgeted with an alarm clock. His hair was still up, though slightly mussed, and he was in pajamas similar to Naruto's, but in a dark blue plaid. "Okay," he began. "I woke up to talk to you at the end of your shift, so now I'm setting this again, for two hours. Then we'll get up and start the show," he said.

"Show?"

"Yep!" Iruka said, snuggling underneath his blanket and turning out the light. "I've got plans..."

Kakashi studied the other man in the dark, the white from the blanket barely visible, and smiled to himself as he too stretched out in the bed and drifted off to sleep.

_____

"Ready?" Iruka quietly asked, as his hand was on the bedroom doorknob.

"Ready," Kakashi responded.

They were preparing to head into the main rooms of the apartment just after two in the morning, two hours into Naruto's shift.

Iruka quietly opened the door and they used their shinobi training to stealthily move down the hallway, pausing about a third of the way down.

Naruto was just barely visible, reading a book of some kind, and Kakashi watched as Iruka ran through select hand seals.

"Genjutsu?" he whispered, and Iruka nodded, eyes remaining on Naruto. "How would that work on him...with what he has inside?"

Iruka shrugged slightly. "I don't know that it will," he admitted. "But it's worth a shot. I can only hope that he and Kurama feel safe enough to allow it?"

"That's a risky gamble," Kakashi said, but didn't interfere.

"I think that's good," Iruka whispered, before moving towards Naruto and placing a seal tag on the chair Naruto was sat in.

"Now what?" Kakashi whispered, as Iruka moved to do the same onto the bedroom door Sasuke was in, before visibly relaxing.

"Barrier seal on Naruto, after ending the genjutsu so as to not alert him to our presence briefly," Iruka said in a low voice. "This one is almost like genjutsu, he's in his own little bubble with no changes in the environment. And one on the door so we don't alert Sasuke." He ran a hand through his hair. "Now, where do we start?"

"I have to admit, I'm a bit lost," Kakashi said.

"We have to trick Naruto into thinking Santa is here, and that he missed him," Iruka informed him. "Then it's on Naruto that he missed him, not either of us."

"Well, of course it wouldn't be on me," Kakashi mused. "My shift was a success."

"Good for you," Iruka said, rolling his eyes. "Let's see...garland, cookies, milk, gifts," he reviewed, nodding to himself. "Do you want to keep an eye on him while I work?" he asked Kakashi, who nodded.

And so, they both moved to the living room, where Kakashi remained standing over Naruto. Iruka went and ruffled the low-hanging garland, ripping a few off and clearly disturbing them, eating a cookie as he did so.

He picked up another cookie and held it out to Kakashi, who shook his head, and Iruka shrugged as he popped it in his mouth. He grabbed the third cookie and the milk and headed into the kitchen, where Kakashi could hear something pour into the sink.

Iruka returned and set the mug back by the now-empty plate, and reached into his pajama pants pocket to pull out a scroll. Opening it on the floor, he unsealed it and pulled out a number of nicely wrapped gifts, arranging them just so underneath the tree.

Standing and returning the scroll to his pocket, he dusted off his hands as he surveyed the scene.

Nodding at his work, he moved to stand next to Kakashi, behind Naruto.

"Now what?" Kakashi asked.

Iruka ran through some more hand seals. "Wards for sound, it's probably going to get loud in here," he sighed. "Stand just in the hallway," he instructed Kakashi, who did as told. "Okay, get ready for the show!"

Kakashi watched as Iruka leaned over the lamp next to Naruto, then moved to stand near Kakashi, tearing the seal tag off Naruto's chair as he passed. The teacher quickly threw up a new barrier in front of Kakashi and himself in the hallway, judging from the flicker of chakra felt in front of them.

Sure enough, Naruto cried out as he registered the suddenly dark apartment.

"Hey! Who turned out the lights?! Santa! I know you're here! I'm going to get you, believe it!"

Kakashi could feel Iruka move next to him and smiled as the garlands were audibly heard to rustle.

"Wind jutsu, nice," Kakashi said. 

"Thank you," Iruka replied.

"It sure is taking him a while to turn the light on," the copy nin mused.

"I unplugged it," Iruka admitted, "to buy more time."

"Definitely sneaky," Kakashi said.

A minute later, Naruto had seemingly given up on the closest lamp and had run to the kitchen to turn that light on, before plugging in the living room lamp closest to where he had been sitting.

The adults watched as he spun in place, eyes wide, taking in the disturbed garlands, empty cookie plate, and gifts under the tree.

"Santa! He came! He broke in and came, he really did! Iruka-sensei! Kakashi-sensei! Sasuke! Wake up!" the blond shouted at the top of his lungs, growing visibly frustrated that no one was joining him.

"What the --" he began, running at full speed towards the hallway...only to run into the barrier and fly backwards.

Iruka and Kakashi cringed and took a step back.

"That looked painful," Iruka sighed.

"Oh Naruto," Kakashi groaned.

They watched Naruto shake it off, grumbling about "Santa's damn barrier!" and then look into the mug.

"Did you empty it?" Kakashi asked, and Iruka shook his head.

"Not fully."

Returning their attention to the living room, they saw Naruto hold the mug and alternate between looking into it and looking around, before raising it to his lips.

"Naruto!" the adults groaned, as the blond drank and set the mug back down.

They held their breaths as he sat back in the chair he was originally sitting in, clearly puzzled by the scene in front of him...and then proceeded to pass out.

The adults exhaled, and Iruka cautiously let the barrier down so they could check on him, deeply asleep.

"Way to teach him to remain aware of his environment," Kakashi commented to Iruka.

"He's your soldier now, remember?" Iruka teased him back. "As I've been saying, this is all your fault."

They exchanged a look and shrugged.

"Let's cover him with a blanket and go to bed," Iruka suggested. "We can still get a few more hours of sleep."


	11. December 25th

(I don't own any characters etc etc)

Iruka and Kakashi woke on Christmas morning for the second time, technically.

The sun was streaming into the room, and Iruka's alarm clock was blaring for the later time they had opted on, eight in the morning.

Iruka stretched and hummed happily. "We got to sleep in a bit after all."

"All thanks to Naruto being Naruto," Kakashi sleepily said. "Two more hours?"

Iruka yawned and laughed. He was on his back and looked over to see Kakashi laying on his stomach.

"I think we already got two more hours," the teacher said, pulling his hair into a new ponytail while Kakashi watched, before the copy nin also sat up and ran a hand through his silver hair.

"Well, sensei, a month of training, and you finally got me into your bed."

Iruka shook his head and laughed as he got out of bed. "You got me, that was my plan all along," he said, sarcastically. "This was never about Santa, it was always about us," he said, still sarcastically, as he left the bedroom.

"It might be that way now," Kakashi murmured as he watched the man leave, before he reached for his forehead protector.

_________

"Still passed out," Iruka said, crossing his arms, as they looked down at Naruto.

"What should we do with him?" Kakashi asked.

"Nothing? Let's get Sasuke up, then 'discover' Naruto," Iruka suggested, and the other man nodded.

They went and took the seal off Sasuke's door, and knocked as they opened it, waking the Uchiha.

Soon, the three of them were looking at Naruto, still fast asleep.

"So, he didn't wake you?" Sasuke asked Iruka, who shook his head.

"No, we just woke up and then knocked on your door when we realized it," Iruka lied. 

"Hn," Sasuke said, looking around at the room. "Idiot," he sighed. "But, let me add a few gifts to the tree before we wake him."

"Good idea, me too," Kakashi said, and the two departed to their separate rooms, while Iruka set water to boil for hot drinks.

A few minutes later and they woke Naruto, who jolted awake.

"Santa! I'm on to you! I've got you!" Naruto shouted.

"Naruto, that's my shirt," Kakashi sighed, prying his hands off him. 

"Wha-what? What's going on? What time is it? Where's Santa?"

"It's a little after eight," Iruka said, passing him a cup of hot chocolate. "And Santa isn't here."

"But he was!" Naruto shouted. "He turned the light off on me, and ripped the garland, and ate the cookies!"

"Did you see him?" Sasuke asked.

"Well, no --"

"So you don't know that he actually did those things," Sasuke commented.

"But --"

"And you basically fell asleep on your guard duty," Kakashi mused. "Tsk, tsk, I thought we taught you better than that..."

"I didn't mean to!" Naruto wailed. "I tested the milk, because I saw some was gone, but Santa should've been here, asleep, if he drank it..."

"You drugged yourself?" Sasuke scoffed. "Dobe."

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto whined. "Help!"

Iruka shrugged and wrapped his hands around his own mug. "I don't know what to say, Naruto. But, we're all safe and sound, so if Santa was here, he maybe wasn't an evil missing nin, eh?"

Naruto looked at the three faces looking back at him before slumping in his chair, frowning. "Stupid Santa, I know he was here!"

"Sure, Naruto," Kakashi said. "Save it for someone who cares, hmm? I'm starving, what's for breakfast?"

______

After a leisurely home cooked meal, they gathered near the tree to go through the gifts underneath.

Naruto gave Sasuke his gift, snacks purchased at the market that one day with Kakashi, and gave Iruka a new winter hat and pen set. He gifted Kakashi with a white mug with a blue K on it.

Sasuke got Naruto a "shinobi way for dummies" book, and gifted each adult woolen socks.

Iruka gave Sasuke a gift card for a bookstore he knew the boy frequented, and gave Naruto a new sweater, hat, and scarf set in bright orange. To Kakashi's surprise (and delight), he gave him "The Ultimate Fan's Guide to Icha Icha."

The kids watched in surprise as Kakashi reached underneath the tree and passed out gifts himself. Sasuke received new kunai, and was surprised and speechless by the gift. Naruto received a large container of different types of instant ramen, and tackled Kakashi in thanks, though Iruka shook his head and suggested they consider adding vegetables too?

"And for Iruka," Kakashi said, passing him a wrapped gift.

Iruka unwrapped it, revealing the gloves Kakashi purchased in the market with Naruto, and smiled as he put them on, admiring the way they moved with hands. "Thank you," he said shyly.

Their gazes lingered on each other for a moment before Naruto coughed. 

"Hey! There's an envelope under the tree!" he shouted, as he wriggled underneath to get it.

He held up a bright red envelope, with all of their names on it.

"Who's this from?" he asked, turning to look at the others in turn, but they all shook their heads.

Opening it up, he pulled out coupons and gift cards for Ichiraku's.

"Iruka-sensei?" he asked, but Iruka shook his head. "Kakashi-sensei? Sasuke?"

"No," they replied. 

"Naruto? Was it you?" Iruka asked, but Naruto shook his head.

"No, promise!"

They looked at it and each other in silence.

"You don't think..." Iruka said, trailing off.

"Couldn't be..." Kakashi said.

"That doesn't really happen, right?" Sasuke asked.

"Well," Naruto said, "he's pretty okay, for a missing nin, if he leaves gifts like that!"

_____

They ate leftover curry for lunch, before the kids decided to leave to train and practice with Sasuke's new kunai, thanking the adults and saying that they'd see Kakashi for training on Monday.

Kakashi invited Iruka to go on a walk in the village, and after changing into new uniforms, they set off, breathing in the cold winter air and taking in the holiday cheer throughout the village.

"Well," Iruka said. "This has been an interesting month, but my body will be grateful for a rest!"

"Agreed," Kakashi sighed. "It took a bit more out of me than I expected."

"You?!" Iruka laughed. "You ran me into the ground!"

"Trained to a new level of proficiency and strength, you mean."

"Sure, whatever," Iruka laughed. 

They continued to walk in comfortable silence for a few minutes.

"I have another gift for you, actually," Kakashi suddenly said. 

"Oh?"

"I do. I was thinking I could pick up some ingredients and cook you a nice dinner tonight at your place."

Iruka smiled. "That could be nice."

"And, I told you I brought the Icha Icha movie..." Kakashi added. "We could watch it after."

Iruka laughed again. "You and that movie!"

"Maa, sensei, you did help me to win it, I'm just being generous and sharing my prize with you."

"How admirable of you," Iruka mused. "So kind."

"I know," Kakashi said, steering them to a vegetable stall. "So, that's a yes?"

"That's a yes," Iruka agreed, as he began to help Kakashi pick out vegetables for their dinner that night.

"Good. I'll even cuddle you under that ugly holiday blanket of yours," Kakashi said, winking at Iruka.

"Can't wait," Iruka said, smiling, as they each silently thanked Santa for granting their wishes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Thank you for reading this, and for all the support on my stories this year! More to come in 2021!

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback and suggestions welcomed!
> 
> Let's connect, I'm on [tumblr](https://hkandiu.tumblr.com/)


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